Archive | September 2020

Food for play O.K?

Sep26

Using Food for Play is a controversial topic that causes a lot of discussion in Early Childhood Education internationally.

Using food for play (not for consumption) is considered unethical in some countries and cultures. It can be viewed as wasteful and disrespectful.
Have you considered an alternative that is perhaps natural, more sustainable, better for our environment – create less waste and compostable?

In a centre environment, it is important to have these discussions with your families if you plan to use food for play.

Do you know:
How your families feel about using food for play?
If you are upsetting or triggering ANYONE?
1 person/family is enough to review your practice. 

As qualified and experienced Early Childhood Educators, we should always work to encompass ‘best practice’.
Best practice happens when we actively reflect on and review our practices, particularly in a cohesive team that is working towards a shared vision.

Reflect on these questions….

What is our WHY?
Why are we using food in play?
What does our philosophy say?
Why are we providing this experience?

Who is it for?
What are the benefits? 
What is the cost? – financially and physically (teacher time).
If we use this food item today, what will we use tomorrow?

What is the impact of using this food ?  On the environment, children, families, teachers and our community?

Is there an alternative?
Weigh up the pros and cons.

It can be argued that using food for play supports sensory learning….
Often there is a better alternative that similarly supports meaningful sensory learning and stimulation.

When you use actual food such as pasta…. what are you teaching the children? What messages are you giving them?

It is important we go back through our reflective questions in each instance.

Lets talk playdough for example….

Flour, salt, cream of tartar, oil.

Playdough is not gluten free and therefore not suitable for coeliac (unless using an alternative flour, prob more expensive).
The high salt content is not so good for our skin.
It is usually coloured artificially.
When it gets wet, its spoiled.
Takes teacher time to make regularly.
How is it disposed of when its ‘done with’?
What are you going to use tomorrow?

Is there an alternative to playdough? Yes!

CLAY!
Clay is natural, sustainable and accessible  – go to your local potter and ask for the clay seconds (cant be fired).  Or dig some up in your local area. You can also purchase through teaching side catalogues.

Clay is cheaper than the costs entailed with playdough.
It is easy to clean.
Clay is textile, add water and it’s still good.
It does not use food items!
It is natural, therefore is a sustainable option, (returned to the earth ‘when done’).
Clay promotes connection with nature . 
Clay is beautiful work with.  It works the hand and finger muscles, it smells earthy, it has a smooth texture and is soothing in its nature.

So tell me, why are you still making and using playdough??

Science experiments can be challenging to find an alternative..
What is our WHY? What is the purpose for the use?
Do you feel like ‘teaching science’ and making a volcano in the sandpit because its ‘fun’?
(For children to want to do so daily because of the spectacle?)

OR

Are you teaching through imaginative story telling?
Perhaps you are looking at sharing a cultural story about your local volcanos (Ruepehu and his brothers)?

Is there an alternative? I’ve seen similar done using a small, controlled fire in the sandpit.

In the garden…

What about cutting herbs for cooking/kitchen play? Is there an alternative to using a food source?  Yet still allows same processes for learning?
Consider growing a leafy, fast growing grass, wheatgrass ? grass is grass, we all know it grows fast.

Using grass avoids encouraging children to cut plants and flowers (needed for our eco system).
Grass is robust and plentiful.

Perhaps you use dried, crispy, crunchy leaves?

Consider providing other natural resources for ‘cooking’ …. sand, mud/dirt, gumnuts, pine cones, 2nd hand clay, water, grass, recycled paper/cardboard, used tea bags.

Reflect and review
When a controversial topic arises within your team or centre, here are some questions to consider…

What are our centre values and beliefs? What does our philosophy say?
How do we feel about it?
What does research suggest?
What do our families say?
Is this practice culturally and socially appropriate in our community?
Do we need to review our philosophy to align our practices??

Loose Parts – The Teacher’s Role

Sep20

Loose parts are simple resources that promote complex thinking, play and learning. 
The simplicity of Loose Parts foster learning through promoting complex thinking.  ‘Lots of the same’ encourages imagination,  creativity, planning, problem solving, curiosity and connection.

We can introduce Loose Parts at any time and you probably already have many available for children. Lots of the same is the key. Check out my previous post Loose Parts – as Learning Resources for more on the value and introduction of Loose Parts in your play space.

The teachers role in using Loose Parts as a learning resource:

1. Observe (from afar)
2. Recognize learning/urges
3. Respond through environmental change
4. Maintain and Refresh the space.


1. Observe

“We need to prioritise play
Not guided
No agenda
Open ended, Child Led play

Let them lead. 
While you Listen, look, watch and notice”.

– Kimberley Crisp

The more engrossed the play is, the more learning there is to recognize and respond to. While children play, we observe, watch and listen. Knowledge is power. We need to watch play in action in order to respond meaningfully.

In order to observe play in action, we need to give the children the time and space to become engrossed in their play, then the true learning happens.

This can be a mind shift. For years we have been taught to comment, extend, talk to and work alongside the children in their play. Yet children learn far more authentically and on a deeper level when we allow them the opportunity to get full engrossed in their work.
We must ensure children get uninterrupted time and space to play out their learning.  This is crucial.


2. Recognize and Respond
When we understand how children learn, we can respond by providing an environment that supports and enhances learning in a safe, supportive and responsive way.
I have learned, actively responding to childrens’ innate play urges makes for meaningful and rewarding teaching.

If you dont know about or understand childrens’ innate play urges/schemas, this is stage one of understanging the value of Loose Parts and the teachers role in an environment rich in them.
We as teachers need this information in the forefront of our thinking.

Example…Perhaps we notice a child with a trajectory urge… we could respond by sourcing resources that allow this child to play out this urge safely… balls, coasters, loafers, perhaps some buckets and baskets for the child to throw in to.

Or, maybe you notice a rotation urge – we can respond with wheels, balls, tyres, piping, cogs, cable reels etc.

The collecting, transporting and deconstruction urges can be challenging for teachers. As you can imagine, with lots of the same, Loose Parts are gathered and collected and they get spread around the play space.
We need to be prepared for this and put some thought into the Loose Parts you provide when these urges are strong.

Large resources are easier to gather and refresh… driftwood, sticks, pinecones, pumice, drainage fittings, log rounds big and small, mill crates,  large piping, types, planks and blankets/sheets.

Lots of baskets, bags, boxes, trolleys, wheelbarrows and barrels for collecting, storing and transporting. 
Rakes and brooms are useful for ease of gathering, refreshing and maintaining the play space.
When we think wisely, we can support both the children and the teachers.


4. Maintain and Refresh the environment
While the children play, teachers refresh.

Loose Parts are exactly that, LOOSE. Lots of resources that can end up scattered all over the place. As a result, there is a lot of refreshing to be done, which can be viewed as ‘picking up and tidying’.

This can come with some resistence from teachers. Again, it is a mind shift. Our role is different to what we have known for so long. It can be challenging to change our practice, but when we can recognize the value of uninterrupted and unadulterated play, it becomes easier to acceptance and embrace the change.

Remember… The spread of resources occurs because of all the learning that happened before that moment.

“To adults, it (Loose Parts) looks like junk, but we have to get rid of the aesthetically pleasing image of play out of our heads.”
– Leah and the First Years

When refreshing and maintaining an environment rich in Loose Parts, the positives definitely outweigh the negatives.

Refreshing gives us great opportunities to observe, from the outskirts of the play. This is potentially our most valuable position… Where we look busy, yet all of our senses are working. We are present, from afar. We can listen intently to the conversations nearby, watch that child working hard to climb and balance…, take a photo and make some notes to wrte a meaningful story about it all later. Refreshing gets us close enough to show presence, yet not close enough to interrupt. This can be very effective when conflict arises. Often just a slight (non-threatening) adult presence can be all that is needed to calm a situation.

When we refresh and replenish – we provide each child with the rich environment that the one before had.  Each child will explore same materials in totally different ways, highlighting the value of refreshing and maintaining, thus rewarding our efforts and encouraging us to provide the same for the next child. We are the home makers. We maintain and refresh the environment for rich learning to occur.

Remember to ensure the child/ren are finished in the space before you start refreshing. They have worked hard, a lot of effort, learning, thinking and fun has been had, please be respectful of this.  They may need photos of their work to share with their family, or they may want to continue this work later.  There is nothing worse than working hard on something for someone to undervalue it by destroying it, labeling it as mess. Be mindful of the energy we put out. Speak negatively of the situation and what does that teach?

This ‘mess’ was authentic learning in action. Whether you observed it or not, the learning was there.

Use this time as a time to connect with children nearby. They will surely see you and ask questions or naturally want to help and join you. This is when you can talk about refreshing the space for others.  Model respect and kindness.

Choose to make refreshing be a joyous task.  It can be a time to gather your thoughts, observe meaningful learning in action, an opportunity to connect with the leaning environment and the resources within it. Do it with a smile, it will feel much better.

Choose a positive perspective, notice the good
the value in the play. Watch to notice… What are the children learning? What skills are they developing during this play?

Create a space you want to spend time in, so it doesnt feel like work, and more like ‘pottering’. 
Work to love the environment like we do our home. Refresh it, maintain it and fill it with beauty and joy.

How can we support Resistance from the teachers
Resistence usually happens because of misunderstanding/misconception.

It is natural to feel resistance when a new concept is introduced. When we understand the reasoning and benefits of the new concept/practice, it is easier to develop acceptance.

Perhaps the most valuable way I have learned to tackle this, is to go on the journey together. Start an internal review.  Do the research together. Attend professional learning opportunities together, share your reflections and challenges. 

Resistence can be supported in a number of ways…

• Highlight the benefits and the valuable learning that is occurring.

• Capture and document these moments in learning stories,

• Share the the learning moments with families and fellow team members.

• Discuss the value of the simple resources that foster complex play and learning

• Role model. Share your joy and excitement for connection and learning.

The ‘DUMP’

Perhaps the most challenging play that can come with Loose Parts, is ‘dump’s’ …. this type of play may seem meaningless on the surface, but when you observe closer, the learning becomes visible.

*’Dumps’ typically happen when Loose Parts are initially introduced. Before the children have connected with the loose parts. The urge does pass*

We had a dump for over a week! This challenged our teachers on so many levels.

After refreshing on day one for the children to revisit the play again the next day, we decided not to undo the work this time and watch to see how it developed. This became a reflective learning moment for us all. 

Kimberley Crisp

The next day, the main players were there again. There were newcomers too. The children continued their play and throughout the morning, the play developed. There was a ticket person, a commander, searchers, sorters and transporters. There were road workers directing traffic with stop and go signs and a pathway drawn on the ground to follow.

The children were leading the play.  The learning was developing as children worked together, sharing their ideas, knowledge and opinions. They were communicating, navigating, problem solving, planning and sharing.
Literacy concepts were explored with the inclusion of signs and symbols and early math concepts were introduced with the tickets and sorting. This was just the learning on the surface. There was so much more happening for each individual child.

So many children were involved in this, with  varying ages and stages of development. Each person had a part and played a role suitable to their own learning needs. The children were communicating with each other.  Listening, sharing, planning, negotiating, solving problems and navigating social competencies.  We were able to watch this all unfold. Recognizing there was great value in this play.

When all of this learning was highlighted to adult onlookers, visitors and teachers, a sense of understanding and shared value was recognized.

…Just think, if we had refreshed the dump at the end of the day yesterday, the play would have had to start again from the beginning. Would the play have developed the same?

For the teachers, the ‘dump’ provided a great opportunity to clean the storage boxes as they were empty.  It also enabled us to look busy while  observing play and learning from the outskirts.

As children dispersed from the space, I slowly started collecting and sorting. Gaging the response from the children, listening and watching. 
I was not focused on getting it all put away. I just wanted to minimize it a little, so I slowly stated collecting a box of plumbing fittings.
I did most of this ‘pottering’ silently but when asked, I talked about how at the dump things are sorted so I was doing my bit to help. This drew interest…. some children watched, some talked and asked questions and others helped.

There was no hurry or need to have it all sorted and put away.  I was minimizing the mountain and refreshing some resources to provoke play and thinking in other ways.  My actions were not calling an end to the play, my choice of words kept the opportunity open for the play to continue.

I took the box of fittings to another space and quietly started to build, balance a create with them.

Leah and the First Years reminds us:

“It can take some time for children to get used to using Loose Parts in their play. Especially if they are used to working with ‘toys’ that do all the thinking work for them… an apple is an apple” whereas a stick, tyre or blanket can be used in so many ways.

The ‘dump’ play allowed the children to connect with the materials, it allowed them to discover what was available to them, it had them searching the play space for things to use. This was the beginning of complex learning with simple resources.

As the children moved through this urge over the coming days, the play began to change. The children started connecting with the resources and using them in different ways.

The dump materials were being collected to use in other play.  “I know what we could use”. ” I know where theres a good stick”

The ‘dump’ also allowed me the opportunity to connect with the resources.  Observation, reflection and presence in the learning, helped me form a positive relationship with the concept of loose parts.

The next day I mindfully set up inviting play spaces to capture interest and show different ways of using loose parts.
As the team worked together to provide inviting provocations in our environment, it challenged our thinking, imagination and creativity…. It was challenging,  it made us work together and communicate… just like it does for the children.  We had interest in observing how the children played in these spaces, causing reflection and further collaboration.

This was the beginning of the teachers developing a positive relationship with Loose Parts as a learning resource.

‘Dumps’ WILL occur. ‘Dumps’ allow children to work through innate play urges… collecting, transporting and deconstructing.  They will work through this and as they build a connection with the materials,  their play will develop into more complex play. 

Ultimately, the teachers role in using Loose Parts for learning, is to observe the play, recognize the learning, respond to learning and provide an environment that is maintained and refreshed to promote thinking, connection and play.

TIPS

Storage
An environment rich in Loose Parts needs a storage area filled with baskets, buckets and bowls. Tools to support easy refreshing – brooms, rakes, helping hands, trolleys.

Collect and source
Encourage your team and families to source Loose Parts. Be willing to reimburse small costs and remember to Thank them for their time and effort.

Actively Reflect on the learning we see in action and How we can enhance the environment?

Read and research.
Start here:

The Sacred Urge to Play
Pennie Brownlee with Kimberley Crisp

Loose Parts book 1 by Lisa Daly

Designs for living and learning by Deb Curtis and Margie Carter

Alternatively, if you are in New Zealand,
Check out Professional Learning Development with:

• Kimberley Crisp
• Pennie Brownlee
• 4Es Consulting
• Longworth Education
• Junky Monkeys (Auckland only).

Wishing you happy refreshing as you observe serious play in action.

Loose Parts – as Learning Resources

Sep12

Loose Parts can be defined as ‘open-ended objects with no predetermined purpose, use or set of rules’. There is no right or wrong way to use them and they can be used on their own or with other materials, sollitarily or socially. It is the child who leads the play with Loose Parts, therefore the learning naturally supports individual needs, abilities and interests.

Using a recycled shoe rack with plumbing fittings and bangles -wooden and resin

The concept of Loose Parts was originally created in 1972 by architect Simon Nicholson who describe the use of open-ended materials in a child’s environment, which he believed was strongly linked to creativity and critical thinking later in life.

“Loose Parts should be part of every list of ‘core’ resources.  It is basically how we grew up, using those bits of treasure around us and playing outside for hours! How many of you remember building and creating huts and tree houses using blankets, sticks, planks, pegs, ropes.”
-Kimberley Crisp

“The more passive the object, the more active the mind.”
– Emmi Pikler

Problem solving to use the milk crates to get on to the cable reel

Action reaction (usually plastic) toys typically have only one purpose or limited use, therefore the brain doesnt have to think very hard to work it. When toys have one purpose or look like a specific thing it is harder for our brain to turn it into something else, or give it another use. Whereas, Loose Parts have no specific function or goal. They can be moved, arranged, designed, taken apart and more!

Playing and experimenting with open-ended materials encourages creativity and imagination. Skills in planning, communication and problem solving are developed – and because there is no prescribed way to use the parts, children make the decisions. They learn, through play, at the level that they are ready for – and naturally stretch themselves by setting their own goals and challenges (Play ‘n’ Learn).

Loose Parts foster spontaneous and creative ways for children to engage in their environment.
When we provide an environment rich in resources it allows children to create, imagine, manipulate, investigate, connect and problem solve. This deep learning in action is an utter joy to watch.

Lisa Daly explains Loose parts as

“Natural or synthetic found, bought, or upcycled materials-acorns, hardware, stones, aluminium foil, fabric scraps, for example-that children can move, manipulate, control, and change within their play”.
-Lisa Daly

Making music using old bicycle wheels and sticks

These parts can be completely unrelated and their size and nature can vary depending on the user and their setting. They can be offered by an adult or collected by children and can be played with alone or with others. Loose Parts are unlimited.

Kimberley Crisp captures all essences of Loose Parts in her acrostic poem…

“L-ots
O-rdered
O-pen ended
S-aves the planet
E-vokes imagination

P-lay and more play
A-ttention and awareness
R-elationships, risk and resilience
T-ime to tinker and potter
S-aves the pocket”

-Kimberley Crisp

Is it a doilie or is it
a plate,
a placemat,
a doll bed or blanket,
a stepping stone,
a sign,
a lily pad,
a biscuit, pizza
Or something else?

When you see a child, fully engrossed in play, working in the kitchen, using a shell for a bowl and gumnuts for snacks, they are not only working their imagination muscle, they are connecting with nature building a relationship with those treasures.

As well as the rich thinking and learning that comes from Loose Part play, it saves the pocket and the planet, 2 very important values to teach our children.
For the most part, Loose Parts are free or cost very little.
If natural, when finished you can simply return them back to the earth, to decompose naturally, rather than to a hole in the ground to live on for another 100,000 years!

Many of us enjoy collecting, as do children.
Encourage your team and families to collect.
In large numbers, lots of the same.


Make it a staff challenge.

For more inspiration and ideas,  get your hands on Lisa Daly’s books… retailing at approx $60NZD, these books are a valuable resource for any home or centre.

You will notice Book 2 focusses on infants and Toddlers, which is great for when children are prone to mouthing and we need ideas for play resources that are large and safe.

Starting out with a collection can because little overwhelming.  I suggest starting with one area at a time….

Play kitchen/home play space….
First, look at what plastic and single purpose items you have in this space and make a list of things you could swap out for Loose Parts /multiple purpose items.
For example, plates, cups and bowls can be swapped out for Shells, Coasters, Doilies and large bark pieces, wood rounds.
Cutlery can be replaced with small twigs/sticks.
Food items can be swapped for gum nuts, shells, stones, bark, wood rounds.

Outside
Cable reels, boxes, sheets, blankets, ropes, milk crates, log rounds, wheel barrows, piping, plankts, gutter pipe, tyres, cushions. Nature treasures such as drift wood, pine cones, pumice, robust shells, gum nuts, sticks, logs Etc. Etc.

Remember,

“When we provide simplicity
Children create complexity 

When we provide complexity 
Children are robbed of creating in the way they are impulsively urged to.”
-Kimberley Crisp

The teachers/adults role in an environment rich in loose parts is quite different to that of an environment fill of single purpose and plastic items.  For starters, there will be lots of Loose Parts to manage and maintain.  Priorities change as teacher practice and philosophies are challenged.
I will delve into this more next week, so keep your eyes out. You wont want to miss it.

Click the link here: Loose Parts – The Teacher’s Role

To teach or to listen? Teaching with intent

Sep6

Intentional Teaching:
To be always thinking about what we are doing and how it will foster the childs development, to produce lasting learning.
-Epstein

As a passionate Early Childhood educator of some 18+ years, I have learned the value and benefit of talking/’teaching’ less and listening more. In Early Childhood Education, it is more important we encourage children to have a voice, to speak up, to share, to believe in themselves.  To support them in developing a positive sense of self and worth.

During my studies and early years in practice, I was encouraged to talk talk talk…. comment on what learning is happening to validate my position as a ‘teacher’. For example sitting alongside a child who is working with blocks and commenting “You are moving the blue block. The blue block is balancing on the top. Now you are adding the yellow block. Your tower is getting tall. When you added the red block it wobbled.”
Or when painting… “you are making circles with the green paint”.

Over the years, I have learned that commenting on childrens play and learning (a.k.a. unneccessary interruption) does not help to build a relationship or foster trust.  Such connection is developed through presence, listening and responding when invited in to their play.

“Adult chat interrupts play and inhibits potential learning that could occur”.
– Nickie Mackwood

Imagine you (as an adult) are baking a cake or doing something you really enjoy, and a friend stands next to you saying things like “you are adding the flour, now you are adding one cup of milk.  You are mixing the cake to combine the ingredients”
How would you respond?
I would say probably something like “actually, I know what Im doing, and that wasn’t flour,”.

However, if my friend said to me “you are working really hard in the kitchen” (or ‘with the blocks’), I would smile, possibly say thank you and get back to my work.

We need to think before we speak….

“Interrupted play is interrupted learning.”
-Nickie Mackwood

Children need and deserve for adults to give them the space to work through their own learning, and to value their voice when they choose to share.
Usually, the less we say, the better. That way, when we do talk, children are more likely to listen than if we literally talk hot air all day long.
There are a number of quotes that capture the essence of what I am trying to share;

“Hold your tongue
Sit on your hands
And Just observe…
SHHHHHH”
-Heart School

“What we dont say is just as important as what we do say.”
-Heart School

“The best teachers have bite marks on their tongue.”
– Alfie Kohn

“The greatest sign of success for a teacher is to be able to say: “The children are playing as if I dont exist”.
– Maria Montessori

A story for you…

A 3 year old boy, looked up at the hills and pointed …

“Look Nickie, there’s smoke up in the hills”.

He continued with great excitement in his voice …

“they caught a pig, the dogs have caught a pig. They are singeing it on the fire and cooking it for dinner”.

He seemed so sure about this.

This was the moment when the child invited me in to his ‘play’.
I could have ‘corrected them, by telling them that in fact there was no smoke, it was fog but why? What for? Because I know better?
Because my truth is more important than his? Was this an appropriate time to go into a full lesson about Fog?

“Children do not need us to shape them.
They need us to respond to who they are.”
-Naomi Aldort

I reflected and thought of all the benefits to biting my tongue.

In this moment, the child is imagining, communicating, developing self worth through sharing, fostering connections with me and the land, he is thinking as he remembers back through his experience and he is happy.

I responded with a smile of interest and presence,

“that sounds tasty”.

When I suggested it sounded tasty, he briefly agreed before going on to share more

“yeah, I go pig hunting with my dad. He has 3 dogs but one of them is naughty and gets lost all the time.”

It was obvious with this response, it wasnt the taste of the dinner that mattered. 

* Imagine if I over shared here or went on about it… that would have been me guiding/steering the conversation, (my truths are not more important than theirs. It is their voice we want to hear). I would have not gained any more information about them, their home life or their experiences. I would have lost their interest, their confidence and their connection. They most likely would have stopped sharing, imagining and feeling the joy and connection.

Bubble (of play and learning) POPPED!!

In this moment, I realised, he was the expert here.  My role was to listen and encourage his sharing.  He was teaching me.  And connecting with me.

“Unless the teacher is a discoverer, an inventor or a creator of new methods, he is a mere assistant and no master”
-Rudolf Steiner

Can you imagine the feeling of confidence and pride he felt as he shared his knowledge? Now imagine if I had corrected him and taught him all about FOG!?!

I believe he would have felt unheard, like his knowledge and experience wasn’t important or valid. I believe he wouldnt have been interested in hearing about fog.

“No interest = no learning”.
-Nickie Mackwood

This child is not going to get to adulthood and not understand Fog if I dont teach him now at age 3.